Mucking machine for mine shafts



Nov. 2, 1948.

I w. E. KIND'svA'rER MUCKING MACHINE FOR MINE SHAFTS 2 She'ets-Sheet 1 Fil'ed Jan. 27, 1947 .INVENTOR MLLJH/vE/wasvnnsw ,siwirllll n o TTORNEY NOV. 2, 1948. I lw E K|NDSVATR 2,452,763

MUCKING MACHINE FOR MINE SHAFTS Filed Jan. 27,.'1947 2 sheets-sheet 2 lFITTDRN E Y atented ov. 2, Q

UNITED PATENT '40.11F F IC E vimiexiijim Foa-MINE sHAFTs william eniadsvateriiuige; Idaho Aiipliat'inupafy 27, 1947,"seria'1N- 724,545

nected with a cable by means of-which thefso'oopl' is drawn alongthe bottom ofthe-shaft lfrlling and' then hoisted into position lforfduinpingmuok from thescoopinto la hopper from-which the muck maybe discharged into a' bucket" fand lthe bucket hoisted from tl"1e"shaft.'Y v

Another object of theinvention is'ffto providefa scoop shaped as a druinv and iormediwith ailon lower edgeso that as the scoop is "dr'aw'nfdrwardly muck willV be guided into'V the scoop Another objectl of the invention is to vprovide ai barrel-shaped scoop having a lip lal'o'n'gtlie'loweredge ofits inlet opening so-formed'that-after the,

scoop has been filled vthe-lip may'fbeengagd' with `vertical tracks or -rails inl/the shaft -andf guided as it -is drawn upwardly int'olposition fori dumping muck into a hopper.; f f f Another object -of theinventionPis--to pro'vide a'set of rails or 'tracks having upperendportionsl so formed that when the barrelshapedf seoopreachesvu'pper ends of the rails lit willbelrotatedto a dumping position-over-the trough."

Another object 'of the.

scoop-while it islbei'ng lled with muck.' A i. w

lAnotherlolojeo: offra@ `4imams-@l1-fis 'no-provides an improved mucke'r which is simple itin-'conistruction, easy t 'install fin ashaft beingidug;

l ,f 4o

The invention is illustratedin 4the' acooiiipanyg andi/ery easy tooperate;l f

ing drawings wherein: e

Fig. 1 is a View partially in vertical section and partially in elevation and showing the improved rnucker in position for use in a shaft.

Fig. 2 is'a viewsimilar 'toY Figure `1"tal'ce'n*at right angles thereto. f 1 Y Fig. 3 is a perspective viewcf thefbarrei shaped scoop.

Figf4'is a side view showing-the upper portion -lventi'on i to 'provide'al Scoop having rei'vablyl'assocatedwithit; to engage a bail by means ofwhich'! the: scoop drawn' 'forwardly' and 'prevent-'rotation'of the` 2 numeral l land-'as the-shaft is deepened timbers' are set up'in the vshaft -to "forma franie 2 'by inea-ns of which the'walls of the 'shaft are braced" and prevented fro'rncaving in. The frame is 'progressifvely deepened' as thelshaft is dug and as inuckisremovedfrom thefbottom oi the' shaft itv is hoisted upwardly through the shaft and the bracingfrarne for the shaft in'abu'cket 3 having a bailo to which' a hoisting 'rope is attached.'

A barrel-shaped'scoop or drum 5 removing muck 5 "from'the bottom ofthe shaft. This'sco'op is spec'ically' illustrated in Figures' 3"and`v5and referringto theseiigures it-will bev seen that the scoop. has a barrel-shaped body provided with heads 'l at its ends 'and' having itsv annular Wall formed withv 'alongitudinally extending opening 8 from the lower edge oi which projects a lip lil locatedL midway thelength of this edge.l A yoke" li which is formed of strong metal'an'd providedwitharms l2 is disposed in' straddling relation to the scoop with' its armsoverlapping the heads l Iof ythe scoop and-pivoti ally connected therewith by pins i3 so that whenthe scoop is pulled forwardly the :scoop may be* tiltedlrelative to the yoke'by awworkinan grasping the handles lli of the scoop and the lip; l5 'caused-l Y to'enter the muck 5 and direct rook or dirtinto the'scoop through the inlet opening 8f A stopI bar t5 `extends longitudinally ofthe scoop in iront of ithe vopening 8 and is of such lengthI thatfits endportionsV 'will overlap 'the sidefari'ns l2 fof- 'the yoke,` Arms lfe'xtend from 'end portions of the stopbartoward the scoop andare removably errgaffged through brackets or' straps iseour'ed to theheadsV of the drum'. Therefore when the sto-p baris' 'in-place its endv portions will overlap the side arr'ns ofthe yoke and serve very effectively to vlimit pivotal movement ofA the yoke andV the drum-relative'yto each other and pressureiexerted against the lip l0 as the drurn is drawn forwardly along Vthe bottom of the shaft will be prevented froml turning-the drum to a position in which muck-can not enter the druin through the opening A8.? Anf-eye'bolt 8 projects forwardly irom'the yoke andito" this eye bolt isV secured an vend of a rope or wire cable .i9 by means oi which the 'scoop isv drawn forwardly when'the 'cable is engaged with a pulley 2li carried by a block 2 i and pullisI exerted to draw the cableupwardly through the shaft. The upper portion of vthe cable may be wound-about a'ihoisting spool or-upward pull exerted' upon the cable in anyr other manner' desired: After -the'drum 5 hasheen pulledforfwardl'yftofa position closevto the pulley,r and the' drumthusiiilled'with'muck'the cable detached from 'the'pulley and when upward pullv is again exerted upon the cable 1 the' drumwill' be drawn upwardly throughthe shaft and the frame 1- Befcre'upward pull 'is exerted uponthe oablelto' di'alwthisooop upwardly through the shattthe arnis -ofi the-"st'opffbar Vvare withdrawn vfrom he is 'used iolbrackets II and the handles l withdrawn from the sockets 22 into which they t and the scoop turned from a position in which a head of the scoop is presented toward track bars or rails 23 to a position in which the annular wall of the scoop will bear against these rails. The weight of the muck in the scoop will cause the scoop to turn about the pivots I3 to a position presenting theI opening 8 at the top of the scoop and there will be no danger f the rock and other muck spilling out of the scoop as the scoop is drawn upwardly through the shaft. Metal strips 24 and 25 which are mounted along front and rear faces of the track bars or rails and these strips have their upper portions projecting upwardly from the track bars as shown in Figures 4 and 6. rihe upwardly projecting portions of the rear strips 25 bear against the outer face of a side wall of a hopper 26 having a downwardly extending spout or chute 2l, and referring to Figures l and G it will be seen that the upper end of the chute is formed with a recess 28 to receive a horizontally extending beam of the frame 2 when the hopper and its spout are mounted in the frame with the lower end of the spout resting upon a horizontal beam under the beam which rits into the recess 28. When the door at the lower end of the chute is opened muck dumped into the hopper and passing downwardly through the chute will be discharged from the chute and drop into the bucket 3 placed upon the bottom of the shaft i in position under the lower end of the chute. The upper portions of the strips 2d are bowed longitudinally to form arcuate guides 39 which project forwardly from the vertical plane of the track bar 23 and then extend rearwardly toward upper ends of the strips 25 and have their upper ends bent to form forwardly curving hooks Si which are welded to upper ends of the strips 25, as shown at 32 in Figure 4. When the scoop is drawn upwardly along the track 23, with its annular wall resting against the strips 2d, and passes upwardly along the guides 3G until it reaches the hooks 3i. The drum rolls rearwardly as it approaches the hooks and the hooks will pass through the opening 8 of the drum at opposite sides of the lip i0 and continued upward pull upon the cable i9 will cause the scoop to be turned over the track into position over` the hopper, as shown in Figure 2, and rock and other muck in the scoop will be discharged from the scoop and drop into the hopper. The scoop will then be lowered to the bottom of the shaft I for another filling and again drawn upwardly and dumped. This will be ,continued until the shaft has been dug to a desired depth, it being understood that as the shaft is deepened timbers will be added at the bottom of the frame 2 and the hopper and its chute or spout moved to the bottom of the frame.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a mucking apparatus, the combination with a frame erected in a vertical .shaft being dug, a hopper carried by said frame and having a depending discharge chute, a trackV extending vertically in the shaft with its upper portion disposed along a wall of the hopper, said track having transversely spaced rails having hooks at th ir upper ends, a scoop having an inlet across its front, a yoke carried by said scoop and projech ing forwardly therefrom, and a cable extending vertically in the shaft and having its lower end connected with the yoke, said cable constituting means for drawing the scoop forwardly in a filling motion and then upwardly along the track, and the hook at the upper end of the track constituting means for engaging through the inlet of the scoop and causing the scoop to tilt over the upper end of the track to a dumping position over the hopper.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the track consists of transversely spaced track bars and `strips extending along front and rear faces of the track bars and projecting upwardly therefrom, said strips projecting upwardly from the hopper, the upwardly projecting portions of the front strips being bowed longitudinally to form forwardly projecting guides for engagement by the scoop as it moves upwardly along the track, the upper extremities of the front strips being curved longitudinally and forming hooks welded to upper ends of the rear strips and having their lower portions merging into the vbowed guides and their upper end projecting forwardly from the rear strips in position for engaging through the inlet of the scoop and causing turning of the scoop to a dumping position.

3. T-he structure of claim 1 wherein the scoop has a lip projecting forwardly midway the length of the lower edge of its inlet in position to have digging contact with muck at the bottom of the shaft asthe scoop is drawn forwardly, the lip also serving as .means for engaging Ibetween side rails of the track and grinding upward movement of the scoop along the track.

Ll. The structure of claim 1 wherein the yoke has a main bar extending longitudinally of the scoop in forwardly spaced relation to the inlet of the sooo-p and side arms extending rearwardly and pivoted to ends of the scoop, and an abutment removably carried `by the scoop for engaging across the side arms of the yoke and limiting tilting movement of the yoke and the scoop relative to each other.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein the yoke has a main bar extending longitudinally of the scoop in forwardly spaced relation to the inlet of the scoop and side arms extending rearwardly and pivoted to ends of the scoop, brackets carried by ends of the scoop, and an abutment bar over the yoke extending longitudinally thereof with its ends overlapping the side arms of the yoke, said abutment Ibar having rearwardly extending arms overlapping ends of the scoop and removably iitted through the :brackets whereby the abutment bar may be removed from the scoop and allow the scoop to turn to a position presenting its inlet upwardly as the scoop is drawn upwardly along the track.

WILLIAM E. KINDSVATER.

REFERENCES CTED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 307,343 Shilling, Sr Oct. 28, 1884 914,755 Sauerman Mar. 9, 1909 1,902,457 Mendelsohn Mar. 21, 1933 2,147,663 Miller Feb. 21, 1939 2,357,583 Franco Sept. 5, 1944 2,393,432 Turner Jan. 22, 1946 2;426,59l Boskovich Sept. 2, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 497,309 Germany May 6, 1930 

